Wireless communication grows in importance daily. Cellular telephones have become standard accessories for adults and children. Coffee shops and other public venues are equipped with “wi-fi” connections allowing visitors to access the Internet with wireless-enabled notebook computers, handheld computers, and portable digital assistants. Even automobiles are equipped with wireless communication devices that allow drivers to call for roadside assistance or, if an owner should lock himself or herself out of the car, to telephone a service operator to remotely unlock the car's doors.
Not surprisingly, the proliferation of wireless communication inspires both increased capabilities and commensurate increased demands for wireless communication bandwidths. To name one example, recently cellular telephone vendors have begun to market wireless interfaces that allow for capture of still photographs, short movies, and voice narration. If the popularity of these devices grows as the cellular telephone companies expect them to grow, just as the proliferation of cellular telephones has consumed available telephone exchanges and area codes, proliferation of multifunctional devices will consume available cellular bandwidth.
Unfortunately, just as cellular telephone companies have devised products such as “picture phones,” other technologies doubtlessly will be devised which will require even more wireless bandwidth. This is a costly problem. Once capacity within allocated frequency ranges has been exhausted, additional parallel networks will have to be created in existing frequency ranges. Wireless network base station transceivers provide coverage across a limited geographic area. Thus, coverage is extendable only by deploying additional base station transceivers, antennas, and other facilities in the same way that such infrastructure has been built to create the geographical coverage of existing wireless networks. Without expansion of wireless network infrastructure, wireless communication device users may not be able to fully benefit from wireless communication devices they use.
For example, FIG. 1 depicts a situation 100 concerning an automobile 110 that has suffered mechanical failure. The automobile 110 is equipped with two different wireless communication transceivers. A first transceiver is a conventional wireless telephone configured to communicate with a first communication network 120. The automobile 110 is within a communication range 130 of the first communication network 120, thus an operator of the automobile 110 is able to telephone for assistance.
The automobile 110 also is equipped with a second transceiver using a proprietary communication system which allows the automobile 110 itself and/or its operator to communicate with an automobile service facility through a second communication network 140. Potentially, data communication between a computer system associated with the automobile 110 might even allow for some faults to be corrected remotely. Alternatively, the fault might be able to be remotely diagnosable through the second communication network 140 or, at a minimum, the operators of the second communication network 140 network likely would be better prepared to arrange to dispatch a tow truck or other service vehicles. Unfortunately, as can be seen in the situation 100 depicted in FIG. 1, the automobile 110 is outside of the communication range 150 of the second communication network 140. As a result, any assistance that might be offered through the second communication network 140 is not available to the operator of the automobile 110. Thus, the operator of the automobile 110 is left to determine his or her location and to try to find the telephone number of a towing service. This can be a troubling ordeal, particularly if the operator has driven the automobile 110 to an unfamiliar location.
Thus, there is an unmet need in the art for expanding wireless communication coverage capabilities to support the bandwidth and/or geographical coverage needed to support desired wireless functionality.